Music Industry Insight | An interview with Georges of independent label ”Felis Dream”

I sat down with up and coming label founder Georges, who has recently created Felis Dream; a London-based record company and artist management company. We talked about how he got started, his inspiration, who he is working with and plans for the future.

Hi, how are you?

Hi, I’m good thanks, how are you? I’m happy to be back here.

What is your role at Felis Dream?

Well I created the label/management so to most people they’d call the founder but I prefer taking the role of a creative director / A&R if that makes sense

Why did you embark on creating Felis Dream?

I’ve always wanted to create my own label/management company ever since I was in school. I’d say gaining experience managing and developing several artists over the years gave me the confidence to create Feli’s Dream.

What was the motivation for you to do so?

A year ago when I was writing a business plan in secret I would’ve probably said TDE or Mind of a Genius (MOAG) but I’ve recently realised it’s actually King Reginald. He’s an artist that I truly admire, his work ethic motivates me to work harder, and his development in the past year has been incredible.

Why call it Felis Dream?

My grandfather’s name was Felicien, which is also my middle name. He was my hero, a true business minded individual. He told me to pursue my dreams no matter what and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past 10 years. So calling it Feli’s Dream only seemed right.

What differentiates Felis Dream from all the other labels out there?

We’re not just a label or a management, we’re actually focusing on developing artists properly. And the only way an artist can develop properly is if they’re given time, so we’re very patient and see no need in rushing to release projects.

Do you feel that labels are still relevant in the digital age?

I still feel they’re relevant in the digital age as they’re able to help you with distribution, PR, worldwide promotion and market you to the right audience. That’s so hard to achieve as an independent artist, unless your family have crazy money. There’s a few artists out there who pretend they’re independent with millions of views on YouTube, charting singles/albums, award nominations and so on, but anyone with a music business mind will know that’s false. Who do you currently have on your roster?

At the moment there’s King Reginald. Bianca’s on hiatus.

Why did you decide to work with them?

King Reginald reminds me of myself when I used to make music back in the day *laughs* Nah seriously he’s one of the most talented young artists you’ll meet – he can rap, produce, engineer, in fact he engineered his last album which is amazing. And he’s so passionate about music which makes it enjoyable for me to work with him. Bianca’s a secret weapon, her voice is amazing. She’ll be back soon.

How many projects have you released thus far?

2016 was like a trial and error year. We released more individual songs than actual full-length projects. King Reginald’s album “The Suicide Story” was released for free independently. Expect his debut EP to drop the 2nd quarter of 2017.

When you are searching for an artist, what are you looking for?

I’ll be honest before I was looking for a voice or a lyricist, but it’s more than that. I look for the whole package, you know, check their personality, see if they’re really passionate about music because too many people have wasted my time in the past, also look for someone who’s keen to develop as an artist before they release a project.

Who in the music business has inspired you and is inspiring you to continue on this path?

The main person in the music business who has inspired man is a man named Jeff Blue. A lot of people may not have heard of him but this guy is a legend. Jeff Blue is the man who developed and helped Linkin Park sign a record deal with Warner Bros. He has also signed bands such as Limp Bizkit and Korn, and has co-written songs with Macy Gray. He’s not only an A&R, but also a songwriter which is the first thing I started doing when I got into music a very long time ago *laughs* and currently looking to get back into properly. One person who’s inspiring me to continue is Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, what the man has done at TDE is amazing. He has an all-star squad with Kendrick, Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, SZA etc and they release nothing but good music. That inspires me.

What has been the ultimate challenge for you thus far?

The ultimate challenge has been working with too many artists at once on the roster when we first started. Some showed traits of jealousy, some didn’t seem passionate, you know too many people to deal with at once *laughs*

How do you tackle those difficult days?

Well, we stopped working, everyone went their own way. So no more working with 2 or more artists at once! Gotta keep the numbers low.

Do you agree that the music business can be extremely cut throat?

Yeah well I think it is to be honest. Everyone is after a piece of the big pie. When you’re hot, like really hot, let’s talk Lil Wayne mid 2000’s hot, the industry will use your popularity to make as much money off you as possible and once you’ve gone cold, you’re gone, and you’re replaced with a, let’s say Young Thug. The majors are always looking for who’s hot right now. It’s all about money unfortunately. Adele recently signed a deal with Sony, I think it’s a £90m recording deal, do you think she’ll see that money if her next album flops? Nope. The industry is crazy, there’s always a replacement ready to take your spot. I could go on but let me stop.

Do you think that there are enough Black executives in the UK music industry?

There’s not enough and I doubt there’ll ever be, to be honest with you. It’s sad. But that’s why a lot of people like me have started their own labels, management companies, events, blogs, radio network and so on.

Not so long ago, the UK music business was valued at an astonishing £4 Billion. Do you feel that this sum of money will ever go back to developing emerging musicians?

I think it will in due time as I feel the UK music business wants to maintain that high level of success. I just hope it’s not artists of the same genres, I’d love to see an emerging UK rock band do well globally soon.

Is artistic quality in the UK music business getting any better or its deteriorating by the day?

It depends what genre you’re looking at. Pop/RnB wise it’s getting much better, you’ve got the likes of Raye, Mabel, Jorja Smith and Ray BLK doing really well and releasing pretty good music. With grime/rap you have Dave, this kid is amazing. So overall I think it is getting better but there’s still a lot of nonsense songs out there unfortunately.

Well I’ll be working with Shani Cherry, she’s releasing her second EP in 2017. Obviously King Reginald will be releasing his debut EP. I’m also going to be on Climax Radio presenting show #DiscoverNu on Thursdays, may just continue my spontaneous mixes on my Soundcloud (soundcloud.com/noiregino) and the main thing is take Felis Dream to another level. We were on the ground floor this year, in 2017 I’m hoping we go up the stairs to the first floor. Patience is a virtue, the only way is up.

How can the readers get demos to you or support what you are doing

Send demos to, I have space for 1 more artist / band *laughs* you can interact with me on my Twitter (twitter.com/noiregino), Feli’s Dream Twitter is @felisdream (twitter.com/felisdream), our website hasn’t been updated in a while but it’s felisdream.com on there you’ll have a link to all the social media accounts.

Thank you so much for speaking to me and keep us posted on what is going on with Felis Dream. We wish you all the best for the future! Thank you for having me! Happy new year and good luck for the future!